Verizon looking at tiered data plans down the road?

As if Skype and Verizon's marriage recently didn't point to some shake-ups in the industry, there is an obvious focus on how data will be reviewed as more consumers push the boundaries and adopt smartphones. There's no denying the explosion of how text messaging has become one of the key forms of communications nowadays, but we are beginning to see the first tidings of VoIP services competing against the standard voice services we've been accustomed to using for so long now – shifting Verizon's focus on building up their data network to accommodate the rising usage. When asked about unlimited data plans by the Wall Street Journal, Verizon CTO Tony Melone said, “As much data as you can consume is the big issue that has to change… It’s one thing to say all you can eat is gone, it’s another to have consumers worrying, ‘Can I stream this radio?’ That’s what we don’t want.” It points all to a picture that Verizon would happily paint in really pushing the US market by being the first wireless carrier to go through with a tiered data pricing policy. Although it clearly makes some sense, we'll see if the number one wireless carrier would be bold to actually start offering lower voice plans at the same time – seeing that the focus would lay in its data network. Big Red isn't known to shy away from leading the way to new policy changes as we've seen plenty of times recently.

via BGR & DSLReports